


Kiss Cam- A Zukka Tumblr Fic

by Mustardcustard



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Football Games, Fraternities & Sororities, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Harvard, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Zuko (Avatar), Tumblr Prompt, Yale - Freeform, Yale vs Harvard, kiss-cam, zukka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29100363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mustardcustard/pseuds/Mustardcustard
Summary: Zuko likes Sokka, maybe more than he should for his best friend. He gets dragged to the Yale vs Harvard football match to support his school and tailgate with his friends, and is excited for the games going to be played on the jumbotron.Little does he know that kiss cams can sense chemistry from a mile away.
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Haru & Jet (Avatar), Haru/Jet (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Suki, Toph Beifong/Suki
Comments: 18
Kudos: 197





	Kiss Cam- A Zukka Tumblr Fic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flameandsword](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flameandsword/gifts).



> Hey y'all! I took a little break from "Oh My Bubbles" to write this one! I came across flameandsword's idea for a kiss cam mutual pining fic and I just had to write it! Hope you enjoy!

“You ready?” Sokka asked, still pulling on a red flannel over his gray hoodie as he closed the fridge, taking out drinks which he threw in the cooler full of ice that was placed on the floor next to him. 

“Why are we tailgating again? Sports are stupid.” Zuko sighed, tying a red scrunchie around the end of his loose braid. He looked cute, wearing a red, over-sized hoodie and some black ripped jeans. 

“Because I owe Toph a steak. But It’ll be fun! The girls and Aang will be there and the Eleutherialites will probably stop by for a drink.” Sokka smiled at him, slinging the cooler on his arm and motioning for Zuko to walk out of the door of their apartment. 

“Football is so stupid. It’s just a bunch of hormonal adults fighting each other.” Zuko sighed and rolled his eye, waiting in the hallway for Sokka to finish locking the door. 

“Exactly.” Sokka smiled down at him as he tossed his lanyard and caught it in front of Zuko’s face. “It’s American principle. It’s fun.” Zuko rolled his eye again, crossing his arms while they walked down the hallway to the elevator. 

After leaving the elevator and throwing everything into the trunk they hopped in the car, driving off to pick up Aang and Katara before meeting the rest of their friends a few hours before the football match was set to happen. The Yale and Harvard game would be the main event of the entire year. 

Zuko could care less about the football. Sure sitting in stiff and uncomfortable bleachers surrounded by screaming and chanting sweaty people that you didn’t even know wasn’t exactly something Zuko looked forward to, but hey, he got to hang out with his friends. There would be food and drinks and games and music, so he honestly really couldn’t complain. Sokka seemed to want to go too, so Zuko could put up with that for his best friend. 

Freshman year Zuko was paired with Sokka for a political science project. They worked together perfectly, knowing exactly how to bounce ideas off of each other and how to present appropriately and efficiently. They studied together in the library for the rest of the year, ending with perfect A’s. Naturally, they had started to hang out more outside of the classroom setting at bars and clubs and frat parties. They soon became the best of friends, able to afford a decent apartment close to campus the following year. They were a great team, planning on still living together even after they graduated and even going so far as to say they would get a job together. 

Zuko didn’t have much faith in that plan, but whatever would happen would happen. He enjoyed Sokka’s company (maybe a bit too much for a straight friend) while he could. The awkward conversations where he would reach for his neck. The smirks, giggles, chuckles, and wide smiles that would crinkle his blue eyes. The late nights where they would sit in the living room talking about everything and anything before one of them eventually succumbed to sleep. Sokka just gave Zuko butterflies and warmth, and he knew why but he would never admit it.

Don’t get Zuko wrong he knew he was gay at the age of four, just the fact that he would never admit having feelings other than friendship towards Sokka. That was his best friend and his family was more of a family to him than Zuko’s own. He couldn’t mess that up. No matter how much he wanted it or how painful it was not to come to terms with it. No matter how much he just wanted to reach up and kiss Sokka every time he did something that made his head feel dizzy. 

Sokka drummed the steering wheel, bringing Zuko back into the present as they waited for the light to turn green. He looked over at Zuko in the passenger seat (who had his knees to his chest and was leaning against the door) and smiled softly at him after a second of staring, then turned his attention back to the road when the light had turned green. 

Ok, yes. Zuko liked Sokka’s company and the smiles and all that shit that made him blush and get butterflies, but  _ not  _ when Sokka was doing it  _ on purpose _ . It unleashed the actions on him tenfold, never falling to make him hide his face with the sleeve of his hoodie. He audibly sighed when they reached Aang and Katara’s apartment, thankful that the drive would be less awkward with Katara’s constant flow of questions and commentary. Sokka rolled down the window, talking to Aang for a little bit before opening the trunk of the CR-V for Aang and Katara to load the bag of vegan cheese, chips, and Aang’s cauliflower steak. 

Katara said hello to them both as she got in the back of the car, smiling widely as she leaned over Sokka’s seat so she could help him put the directions into the GPS. Zuko turned around and asked Aang how Appa, his mellow and affectionate white chow-chow, was doing at his parents. Aang’s face lit up, immediately pulling up pictures of Appa on his phone like a proud father on a dads fishing trip. Eventually, Sokka told them to buckle up, putting the gear shift into reverse to ease out of the parking garage. 

_ Please don’t put your arm around my seat. Please don’t put your arm around my seat.  _

Sokka (the fucking devil that he is) turned to face the back of the car to see the road behind him ( _ even though he has cameras to do that for him! _ ), putting his arm on the back of Zuko’s seat. Zuko turned away from him, not trusting his own body to not blush because  _ holy fucking hell his arms are huge _ .  _ Do you think he could pick me up? Shit, he could totally pick me up.  _

The rest of the drive was normal as usual. Katara was talking away about her frustrations with her professor and telling them about how horrible and grumpy she was and how she always gave them long assignments and essays over their short break. Aang and Sokka tried to reason and empathize with her but Zuko stayed out of it, never really having complications with his teachers. He looked at his phone, checking his hair in selfie mode on Snapchat and loving the winged liner he was able to pull off. He felt a little confident in the good lighting of the afternoon sun, pulling down the sun visor and flipping up the mirror to smear some lip-gloss on. 

“Sokka!” Katara yelled out and the car swerved, a honking car yelling at them for drifting in the other lane. Zuko had to bring the lip gloss applicator away from his face as the car steadied itself again. 

“Shit. Fuck. Sorry.” Sokka rushed out, focusing on the road and firmly gripping the wheel and ten and two. 

“It’s ok just…” Katara paused, Zuko saw that in the mirror she looked from him to Sokka and back to him, “Just pay attention. Toph wants her steak.” 

“Yeah… She’ll kill me if I don’t get it to her.” Sokka chuckled. 

“If you’re not already dead,” Zuko added, making the entire car share a soft laugh. 

~~~~~

“Aang! Katara! Zuko!” Toph smiled, getting up from her green lawn chair when she felt them jumping out of the car next to Suki’s pick-up truck, “Sokka! Did you bring the grill?” 

“Straight from my dads’ house.” Sokka smiled back at her, opening the trunk and handing the cooler to Zuko when he offered to take it. 

“Where is everyone else?” Zuko asked, setting the cooler on the ground next to the folding table of solo cups underneath it that were in the center of a circle of similar lawn chairs. Zuko sat down in one as Katara did the same and Aang got the bag of food out from the trunk, bringing it over to Suki who was creating a charcuterie board. 

“Jet and the other Eleutherialites will be coming soon,” Suki smiled over her shoulder. She placed the vegan cheeses and chips Aang had brought on the remaining space before turning around and putting the board from the trunk to the table, laid with fruits, cheeses, and meats. “Help yourself,” she smiled, making a small, separate plate for her girlfriend. 

_ Oh, fuck the drinks I should probably offer drinks _ . 

“Aang? Katara? Water, beer, soda?” Zuko asked raising an eyebrow, pulling the cooler from under the table. “Toph? A beer? From the bottle or a cup?” 

“From the bottle. You know me well enough sparky.” Toph sneered as she reached out when Zuko handed it to her, cringing when she opened the cap with her teeth. He passed Katara and Aang their preferred soda’s, as well as getting up to hand-deliver a water bottle to Sokka, who was still setting up the charcoal grill. 

“You need any help?” Zuko asked as he handed Sokka a cold bottle, he thanked him as he took it. 

“I should be good. I just need a match to start the fire and then I can start grilling. I can’t find one-” Sokka began as Zuko moved to the trunk, taking a quick look around before locating the box with ease and handing it to Sokka with a smirk on his face. He sighed as he took it, “Thanks.”

“Of course. And if you want a beer or a plate of fruit and meat just let me know.” Zuko smiled over his shoulder before sitting back down, taking a few slices of cheese and crackers from the cutting board. 

“And then I said, ‘Is your ass jealous of all that shit coming out of your mouth?’” Toph laughed before taking another swig of her beer, making Suki put her head in her hands and Aang and Katara start laughing as well. All of a sudden she looked up, brows furrowed under her sunglasses. “Hey! Are those the lameos from Eleutheria?” Toph yelled, setting her drink on the table.

As predicted a large, extremely decorated Jeep Wrangler with red flags, streamers, and banners, pulled up to the parking spot on the right, blasting hip-hop and rap music. Jet got out of the driver’s seat of the car, followed by his boyfriend, Haru, and Longshot and Smellerbee (which shouldn’t  _ technically  _ be in the frat but who cares she’s one of the boys). It was a small turn out for how boisterous the events in the car were. Each of them were just as school-spirited as their car, wearing bright crimson on their clothes and faces, looking as if they were going to chant fight songs at any minute. 

“You don’t seem very excited to see us Ms. Beifong!” Smellerbee laughed, helping Longshot pull a few extra lawn chairs from the trunk. 

“Don’t you guys have some fraternity thing to do?” She waved them off, returning to her drink.

“Oh but why would they when they could hang out with their very welcoming and kind friends?” Suki asked, turning to Toph in an effort to get her to behave. It worked, and Toph slumped in her seat with her arms crossed. 

“That,” Jet laughed, pulling the toothpick from his mouth as he sat down on Haru’s lap, “Or the tailgate parties don’t get fun until people start drinking. I like to wait a bit for people to start getting tipsy so I can remember what actually happened.” 

“Yes because I  _ definitely  _ believe you don’t want to get absolutely trashed tonight,” Zuko replied snarkily, taking a sip from his cup. 

“Hey if we win that’s just another thing to celebrate! I like to remember why I’m sore in the morning.” Jet and everyone else burst into laughter as Haru covered his face with his hands. Zuko just handed them beers and sodas, chuckling slightly at Haru groaning in his hands in embarrassment. 

After a few minutes of talking and drinking and laughing, Sokka spoke up from his place at the grill. “Would someone mind bringing some plates?” He called out, flipping a series of steaks, “A few more minutes and they’re done.” 

“Suki where would they be?” Zuko asked, placing his cup on the table and moving towards the trunk. 

“In the Walgreens plastic bag. Get the napkins that are in there as well.” Zuko nodded, fishing through the bag to get a stack of plastic plates and napkins, squeezing his way over to Sokka. The smell of fresh steak wafted up with the smoke to Zuko’s nose. It smelled  _ heavenly _ . Sokka was an exceptional cook. 

“Smells amazing.” Zuko smiled up at him, sitting on the bed of the trunk. 

“Thanks,” Sokka returned the smile, bringing the butterflies and warmth back into Zuko’s system. Zuko cleared his throat before continuing. 

“You should uh- You should cook at home,” Zuko said, then realized that it sounded demanding and like Sokka  _ never  _ cooks, “…more often! N-not saying that you don’t cook! No, no, no! J-J-Just that your a very good cook a-and I enjoy it when you do!” Zuko rushed out, looking up at Sokka who was sucking in his lips. “What?”

“It’s c-funny when you get nervous, that’s all.” Sokka smiled at him again, pressing his tongs at a steak which sizzled. They both looked up when many voices singing Tom Lehrer’s  _ Fight Fiercely, Harvard.  _ They both waved to the Eleutherialites, who started packing up as the song was their signal to go. 

~~~~~

“Absolutely delicious.” Toph sighed, placing her plate on her lap and not even bothering with a napkin for all of the juice on her mouth until Suki waved it in front of her face. 

“Yes, Sokka this is wonderful. Thank you.” Zuko smiled at him before putting another piece of juicy and tender meat into his mouth. 

“My pleasure. Aang did I cook the cauliflower ok? It was the first time trying it so I don’t know how good it ended up.” Sokka asked, looking across at Aang who was already finished. 

“Oh it was fantastic. Thank you again!” Aang laughed, patting his stomach. 

“You’re welcome.” Sokka smiled.  _ Fuck, why the hell does he look so hot when he smiles? Holy living breathing shit. What the fuck? This isn’t fair.  _

“Is that  _ Fair Harvard _ ?” Katara asked, turning her ear to where the noise was coming from. 

“If you can’t make sense of the lyrics, then yes. It’s  _ Fair Harvard _ .” Suki laughed and they all shared a light chuckle. 

“We need more fight songs that aren’t so…” Zuko began, trying to find the word. 

“Classical? Primordial? Medival? Verbose?” Aang tried to fill in for him. 

“Miserable?” Sokka added into the stream of words coming out of Aang’s mouth. 

“Yes! Not as verbose and miserable! Thank you.” Zuko nodded. 

“They all seem like Christmas songs to me,” Toph grumbled. 

“What if we just started singing _The First Noel,_ ” Katara offered, making Zuko burst out into laughter, “Would anyone notice?”

“Harvard, Harvard!” Zuko sang as he held his waist and chuckled, making everyone else go into hysteria. “Harvard, Harvard! Born are the students who are dishonored!” Someone spewed their drink from laughter. 

~~~~~

“Why do marching bands exist in college again? They make no sense.” Zuko leaned over and asked Sokka, watching as the Yale band was playing, “It’s like a bunch of band kids from highschool just got hungover and started taking Adderall and Xanax.”

“That is exactly what they are, thank you for that.” Sokka looked over at Zuko nodding slightly in appreciation, “Finally, they’re done we can play.” He sighed as the band lowered their instruments and started marched off the field, being replaced with smiling cheerleaders and football players.

“The anthem…” Zuko whispered to him, as the football teams lined up and kneeled, facing the flag. 

“Fuck…” Sokka groaned, standing when the commentator asked the stadium to rise for the national anthem, putting a hand over his heart and staring at the flag next to the jumbotron. It was a new installation. A nice touch of modernity to all the old ass buildings.

“Ok… now can we play?” Sokka sighed as he sat back down on the bleachers, as everyone cheered for the game to begin, leaning forwards with his elbows on his knees. 

It took another thirty minutes to start. 

~~~~~

“What did you get?” Katara asked him, looking at the tray of food he had. 

“Pretzels. Everyone take one. I have water in my bag.” He passed a very salty pretzel to each person (except for Aang who didn’t know where the ingredients were from and yadda yadda yadda) as well as a couple of napkins and cheese dip if they wanted it. He offered the last one to Sokka, who took it happily. 

“What did I miss?” Zuko asked as he munched on a soft pretzel that was more cheese than anything else, passing water bottles down the line. 

“Yale scored a touchdown. Now we’re doing a 46 defense which makes no sense because Yale has five receivers in the back!” He yelled the last part as he stood up, getting many other Harvard students and alumni to yell with him in agreement. Zuko just ate his pretzel, not knowing whatever Sokka just said. “Anyways, we’re going to lose.” Sokka sighed, sitting back down. Zuko offered him water from his bag and he took it happily. 

“Well keep it up and we might end up on camera. Looks like they’re panning to Harvard fans to keep their spirits high.” Zuko pointed to the jumbotron with his hand full of pretzel, where a family clad in crimson and war paint were displayed jumping up and down. 

“I don’t understand those. What’s the point? Like yeah, it’s cool so you can see the game up close but half of the time it’s just close-ups of the fans or the players sweating.” Sokka shook his head. 

“Uh, yeah? Hello? Hot college football guys, sweating? While trying to get the attention of the entire stadium to be focused on you? That is exactly the point.” Zuko explained, ripping another bite from his pretzel. 

“See, now it makes more sense.” 

“Ooh!” Zuko said excitedly, mouth full of pretzel and having to take a moment to fully eat it all before continuing, “They have these fun little games on it too! They have like dance battles and stuff, kiss cams, a crowd noise-meter.” 

“Wait I’m sorry, kiss cams? Those are still a thing?” Sokka asked, interrupting Zuko. 

“Yeah. They’re like super popular!” 

“Weird…” Sokka grimaced, turning back to the game at the whistle and then leaning back again after thirty seconds when Yale scored yet another touchdown. “We’re fucking twelve o! Do we suck that badly?” 

“Some of the players suck very nicely, actually,” Zuko smirked at Sokka as he pulled his legs up to his knees, leaning his back against Sokka. 

“You did not just- Oh my goodness Zuko,” Sokka laughed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, making Zuko laugh with him. 

“Look, the kiss cam is going on right now.” Zuko nudged Sokka throwing his head in the direction of the jumbotron that was displaying an older Harvard couple, a former professor and her wife, encased in a white heart while sharing a sweet kiss. The crowd cheered, Yale or Harvard, remembering professor Yue as one of the nicest and most influential female professors of her time. The camera moved from couple to couple, forcing them to kiss while others (the jerk straight men especially) just chugged down beers. The kiss cam disappeared, however, when the match was set to resume. 

Every time the game had paused the kiss cam would come back on, without fail. Sometimes it was a dance battle, another time was trying to see which college could make the most noise (Harvard one by a long shot), but most of the time it was a kiss cam with sponsorships and ads mixed in. It went from couple to couple, some of them being funny with a young freshman and an older woman, other times sweet as couples got excited and shared a quick kiss on screen. So far no one had refused a kiss with someone they were actually dating. 

Zuko stopped looking at the jumbotron for a moment, gazing off into nothingness and not thinking about anything until a soft “ _ oh my god _ ” was heard from Katara. Instinctively both he and Sokka looked back at the huge screen, both gasping when they saw that the kiss cam was focused on them both. On-screen they could have easily looked like a couple with how Zuko was leaning against Sokka and he immediately blushed. 

Zuko looked back to Sokka, panic on both of their faces as people cheered around them. Zuko felt his heart constrict, his stomach drop, his lungs collapse. This was embarrassing as shit. He moved to get off of leaning on Sokka, covering his face with the sleeve of his hoodie and slowly moving his hood up and cowering into his little safety cocoon where no one would be able to see the burning red on his cheeks. He watched Sokka on the screen who had also turned away, rubbing the back of his neck in awkwardness and blushing from embarrassment as the crowd roared louder, waving away the camera before it went to another couple. 

_ Can the floor just open and swallow me whole, please? I thought these were fun.  _

Zuko came out of his little bundle of fabric when he hadn’t seen another kiss cam in at least ten minutes, sitting properly (that’s harder than you think) in the bleachers and not making eye contact with anyone. He paid attention to the game, analyzing the tactical advantages Yale had over them, but how Harvard could exploit their weaknesses with physical force. It was a bit calming. Zuko got to understand how the game works and how the coaches think, how each player had an impact on the whole game. He slouched when a penalty flag was thrown onto the field, signaling a foul from Yale when it looked clean to Zuko. He diverted his attention to the jumbotron again while the foul was going under review.

It was another kiss cam, which at this point was just getting repetitive. Zuko was fine with it, as long as it didn’t pan to him again. That was… incredibly embarrassing for a multitude of reasons. 

The camera panned to Suki and Toph though, Suki’s face lighting up at the screen. 

“It’s a kiss cam on us… isn’t it?” Toph sighed but smiled nonetheless, leaning over to Suki as they shared a chaste yet sweet kiss. It then panned slightly down the row to Katara, who was leaning against Aang as she smiled at her friends. Aang then tapped her on the shoulder before pointing to the screen, her face alight as she turned her head around and kissed Aang. 

_ Ok, that’s cute but I swear to god if they go to Sokka and me I will flip the entire stadium off.  _

Zuko then watched as the camera slowly made its way over to Sokka and Zuko. Again the crowd roared, cheering for the only people who refused to kiss to do so now. Zuko tried to laugh it off, only managing a sad smile as he dismissed the camera, shaking a finger and waving his hand. He looked up at the screen, not able to do anything else. His face faltered when he saw Sokka, just staring at him with his arm on the space of the bleacher that was behind Zuko’s back. He looked… determined? Regretful? Zuko couldn’t place it as he immediately swiveled around to face him. 

Infatuated would be an understatement. 

Sokka didn’t speak, just stared down at Zuko’s eyes, then down to his lips, and back up to his eyes again. Sokka seemed hurt, like he just wanted to reach out and kiss Zuko right then and there. His Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed, sucking in his lips as he searched Zuko’s face to try and find words to say. Zuko found it insanely hot, but it also pained him at the same time. 

“If you want to kiss me just go ahead and do it,” Zuko spoke straight from his mind. Sokka gave him a wide smile before leaning down, Zuko sitting up just to meet him halfway. 

_ Holy fucking shit it’s actually happening.  _

It was sweet and unsure at first, vulnerable to pain and uncertainty before they both leaned closer, knowing that this was right with all of their absolute being. Zuko put his hands on Sokka’s face, smiling under him and suppressing a giggle the best he could. They smiled against each other’s lips, laughing like dorks as the crowd screamed, their friends cheering the loudest of all. 

“Does this mean you like me?” Sokka smiled down at him, pulling Zuko’s hands from his face and holding them at the wrist. 

“Of course I fucking like you you dork. Just kiss me already.” 

And that he did. Many times over the course of the game. So much so that they became the favorites of the camera man. 

**Author's Note:**

> Omg I love them. The ending was pretty quick but I hope I gave it justice!  
> Fic idea credits to @betrothedzukka on Tumblr  
> Follow me @mustardcustardworks
> 
> Also eleutheria, the name of the frat, loosely translates to freedom. Aka the freedom fighters!


End file.
